1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit connector and particularly to an integrated circuit connector with zero insertion force.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently used integrated circuit connector primarily includes a cover and a base for being matched to each other and a drive device is disposed between the base and the cover. Usually, the principle of cam is applied to the drive device so that a rectilinear relative motion can be generated between the cover and the base by way of the rotational force to allow the integrated circuit being capable of electrically connecting with the connector.
However, the currently used drive device is simply sandwiched between the cover and the base without any retaining device such that the central shaft of the drive device becomes displaced during the eccentric cam rotating and it results in the cover and the base being incapable of keeping contact tightly because of warping and loosening at the time of the cover moving parallel with the base. In order to overcome the deficiency, a reinforced structure, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,848 (Taiwanese Patent No. 118060), which utilizes a way of hooking for enhancing the effect of joining. The drive device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,848 provides a hook part and an engaging part to prevent the cover and the base from over loosening during parallel moving.
But, the preceding way of engagement is still not possible to solve the problem of misalignment of the central shaft and it makes not only the tool mold hard and complicate to be fabricated but also the assembling process more inconvenient in addition to having difficulty of being disassembled during inspection and maintenance. Further, the reinforced structure is an urged press fit so that it leads to insufficient strength at the reinforced structure due to improper exertion or misused material and causes rupture and damage of the reinforced structure. Hence, a connector with the reinforced structure may occur high defect rate owing to the preceding reasons.
The crux of the present invention is to overcome the preceding problems to avoid deficiency residing in the integrated circuit connector.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide an integrated circuit connector, which is provided with a locating device attached to the cover, the base and drive device, so as to keep the cover in contact with the base tightly and maintain a relative position of the drive device to the base while the drive device is in rotational motion.
In order to achieve above object, the integrated circuit connector according to the present invention includes: a base providing at least a receiving hole and a terminal in the receiving hole; a cover being restrained and capable of moving horizontally relative to the base and having at least a through hole corresponding to the receiving hole; a drive device disposed between the base and the cover and actuating the base and the cover to move relative to each other by way of rotational movement; and a locating mechanism arranged at the cover, the base and the drive device for restraining the cover, the base and the drive device moving vertically; whereby, the cover can keep contact with the base tightly and a relative position of the drive device to the base can be maintained while the drive device is in rotational motion.